It's my turn to ask questions.

It's My Turn to Ask Questions, Right?

"Clang!"

With a resounding crash, the shield and bow that had collided were sent flying apart in the fierce wind, forcing their respective users to retreat and create some distance.

"Tch..."

The archer clicked his tongue.

Because, he had already seen it.

Before him, without him even realizing, two figures had appeared.

"Are you the one who attacked us?"

Mashu, holding her shield, questioned the archer with a stern gaze and expression, remaining on guard.

Standing behind Mashu, Luo Zhen also sized up the archer, confirming his suspicions.

"As I thought, the attacker is a Servant, and of the Archer class? Should I say it was to be expected?"

Only a Servant could have made such a precise shot from that distance.

However, if the opponent was a Servant, then there was one question.

"Who summoned you, and why did you attack us? Though, I suppose you wouldn't answer that question, would you?"

Luo Zhen said this with a playful tone.

"Although, I already have some guesses."

Luo Zhen's words clearly reached the other party's ears.

The Servant of the Archer class fell silent.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Luo Zhen said casually, "You should have been summoned through proper means, unlike those defective 〈Shadows〉 that can't even hold a conversation, right?"

Luo Zhen was teasing him.

Even as he said that, Luo Zhen's heart was filled with vigilance.

The opponent was a genuine Servant, not a defective product like those in the simulated battles. If he let his guard down, he could very well be killed.

Luo Zhen didn't want to face another crisis.

Therefore, since the surprise attack had failed, he could only try to stall for time and find a strategy that would benefit them.

Luo Zhen made this plan and tried to coax the other party into talking.

If they talked, there was a chance to gain information and find an advantage.

And Luo Zhen's provocation seemed to have had some effect.

"I must say, you surprised me. I didn't expect anyone to get this close while I had the high ground."

The Servant of the Archer class glanced at the wary Mashu, then turned to Luo Zhen.

"How did you do it?"

This was Archer's question.

"Whether it's the sky or the ground, everything is under the surveillance of my 〈Clairvoyance〉. It's not easy to get close." Archer stared at Luo Zhen and said, "Did you use an invisibility Magecraft or a Noble Phantasm that allows for spatial transfer?"

Archer could only think of these possibilities.

Unfortunately...

"Wrong." Luo Zhen shrugged and said, "There's no need to use invisibility Magecraft, nor is there a need to use a priceless Noble Phantasm like spatial transfer. All you need to do is make use of what's under this town, right?"

What's under this town?

Archer was taken aback at first, but then immediately understood.

"I see, the sewers?"

Exactly.

Behind the building that served as cover, the last thing Luo Zhen saw was the entrance to the sewers.

By entering the sewers and following them, they could quietly approach Archer without being seen.

As for finding Archer's location, that was even simpler.

"Although you were several kilometers away from us, to snipe us from that distance, you would need a high vantage point. In this direction, only this place is suitable."

Luo Zhen's laughter cleared up all of Archer's doubts.

"Now then, it's my turn to ask questions, right?"

Luo Zhen looked towards Archer, his voice becoming serious.

"Who told you to attack us? And who is your Master?"

First, this problem had to be resolved.

Besides that, Luo Zhen had many other questions.

Among them, the most important was...

"What exactly happened to this town? Why did it become like this?"

Luo Zhen voiced the most important question.

A burning city reduced to ruins.

This was clearly an abnormal state.

If Luo Zhen wasn't mistaken, he should have been Spiritron Transferred to 2004.

The fire in the control room caused Chaldea's first operation to die in its infancy.

However, Chaldea's first Spiritron Transfer experiment had already been initiated, and it was already being adjusted before Luo Zhen left the control room and before the control room exploded.

So, after the control room exploded, it wasn't strange for the system to detect the experiment being aborted, switch from manual operation to automatic operation, and Spiritron Transfer the still-intact Master to the operation destination.

In other words, at this moment, Luo Zhen was in Fuyuki City in 2004, inside Singularity Point F.

After all, according to Chaldea's records, there was no such fire engulfing the entire town in Fuyuki City in 2004.

This could only mean that an anomaly had occurred in this era, something not recorded, an event that had never occurred in human history.

This event led to the extinction of human history.

Now, Luo Zhen was preparing to figure out this problem.

"Don't tell me you don't want to answer?" Luo Zhen said with a fake smile, "The situation is in our favor right now."

Even if the sneak attack failed, if the opponent was an Archer, at such a close distance, even a Servant would be struck down by Mashu before they could draw their bow.

Unless...

"You thought closing the distance would guarantee victory?"

Archer's cold voice echoed.

In the next second, Archer did something unexpected.

He released the bow in his hand.

"Buzz!"

Magecraft surged again, turning into red lightning, gathering in Archer's hands.

Immediately afterward, Archer's hand gripped two short swords formed from Magecraft, resembling twin poles.

"What...!?"

Mashu was shocked.

"He actually has swords...!?"

Luo Zhen was equally surprised.

Why would an Archer have swords?

Even if the Archer before him was skilled with swords in life, the Noble Phantasm that it should be allowed to possess when its Spirit Origin was summoned should only be a bow.

While so surprised, Luo Zhen instantly understood.

As a Magus, Luo Zhen knew what the Servant before him had just done.

"Projection...!?"

————〈Projection〉.

It was a type of Magecraft that used Magecraft to materialize items that existed in reality in the form of replicas, creating them.

The Servant before him had obtained swords in this way.

In other words, the opponent wasn't using a Noble Phantasm, but Magecraft.

"Thinking that an Archer can only use a bow is your miscalculation, unknown Master."

After saying these words, the nameless Archer laughed, then its smile turned cold, and it suddenly stomped on the ground, launching a charge with astonishing momentum.

"Master!"

Mashu immediately leaped forward, standing in front of Luo Zhen, raising her shield, preparing to face Archer.

Suddenly...

"————!"

The charging Archer abruptly stopped, turning its head sharply, looking in one direction.

Its expression was replaced with annoyance.

"That annoying dog!"

After uttering these annoyed words, Archer ignored Luo Zhen and Mashu, turned around, transformed into particles, and disappeared.

"This..."

Mashu was stunned.

"Dog...?"

Luo Zhen also frowned.

The entire iron tower was suddenly left with only the young man and woman.

A cold wind swept through, carrying the scent of gunpowder.

PS: Congratulations to "丶夜晨夕" for becoming the fourth leader of this book! Hooray!